Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:05 This is annuity straight talk since 2008. Your host Brian Anderson has helped clients nationwide navigate the complex market for annuities with Brian's assistance. Hundreds of clients have achieved a profitable and secure retirement. I would know because Brian has answered many of my questions concerning annuities and retirement planning so that you can benefit as well. Let's get started. Here's Brian.
Speaker 1 00:00:46 Hello and welcome to the annuity. Straight talk podcast, episode number three, my name is Brian Anderson. I am coming to you on location in grand junction, Colorado visiting my sister because I got a new puppy. Shirley wanted to meet him. So she's babysitting right now while I record this podcast, my cohost is a very talented, intelligent level headed decent guy from Kirkland, Washington. Would you like to introduce yourself? I
Speaker 2 00:01:12 Got to go get that guy. I don't know who you're talking about. This is a joke around, oh yeah. Sorry. I'm either on person here. This is a show Graham G from Kirkland, Washington. My company is top planning and I am not recording on location. I am actually recording in Western Washington.
Speaker 1 00:01:27 Well, delightful end. The wonders of technology, I guess this is our first shot before we're meeting in Spokane to record the episodes. And we decided that might be more efficient time-wise and obviously we wouldn't be recording in Spokane if I'm down in Colorado.
Speaker 2 00:01:40 That's correct. So, and also we figured that it was beautiful when we started getting together in the early spring, but since you're coming from Montana and I'm coming from Western Washington and we have to go over those mountain passes, those can rather be in Clement during the winter time. Right? So
Speaker 1 00:01:56 The one thing we do have in common is the mountain passes in Western Washington, Western Montana are snow-covered and icy in the winter four hour drive turns into seven, maybe. No, thank you. So we had to make the decision for longevity, and I think this system will work a whole lot better.
Speaker 2 00:02:11 I agreed. I thought today we might talk about something that in the December of 2018 article at the New York times, one of the columnists there had written up a series of articles on annuities, among other things. He talked about keeping explanation of annuity, simple. He even attended a dinner seminar. Now you wrote a couple of articles that were somewhat related. So I thought in today's episode, we would talk about those articles.
Speaker 1 00:02:37 Yeah. And when you brought up the topic, I thought it was a really good idea because, and I I've explained to you several times where I've been writing the newsletter for a few years now. And a lot of it was to be honest, it was really a frequently asked questions, newsletter. So people could go find the answers for themselves without the threat or the pressure of a sales call. And obviously we're always available for appointments. If anybody wants an unbiased, just chat with someone to give a couple of pointers and some ideas to see if a fit would work. So you can always call annuity straight talk. If you liked the podcast, go ahead and sign up. But there's a schedule button on the website where you can get on our calendar and can always call (800) 438-5121. So what I was going to say is that newsletter I wrote was titled sales versus advice.
Speaker 1 00:03:18 And when I started it, I guess we both have this analogy and this is a total coincidence, but I have an analogy of sales versus advice. When I was looking for a new or thinking about a new truck a couple of years ago. So 2018, the people that know me understand, I pull a horse trailer around. Cause I like to be in the mountains with the horses and mules and it's gotta be a heavy duty diesel truck. My old truck is it's not new, but it's in good shape. I take care of it, but you drive it a lot in an old truck. And the guy says, boy, you got to look at these new <inaudible> problems at $85,000 and nothing down and 0% interest for 72 months, you can't pass that up. Right. And everybody knows how hard a car salesman works. And I thought the guy knows nothing about me. He's going to take a shot at my old truck. He just wants me to buy something. Right. He's not really thinking about what. And so it was funny when I first met a show, we were talking about some of these things we'd like to do analogies, but you had something similar. Right? I
Speaker 2 00:04:13 Had something similar and it was also slightly different. It was actually a better experience. So back in 2011, I was looking for a truck I had and I still have a dog. And I thought, you know what, we're going to go on the beach. We're going to do kind of fun things, man, his dog kind of thing. So in my mind, I just I'll just tell you, I wanted a Toyota Tacoma and that's what I had my heart set on. So I go into the bay area. I was in I'll just give a plug. It was Toyota Miranda in San Rafael. And the gentlemen there at the time, he said to me like here I am on the lot, looking at the truck. And he asked me something that was a little bit different than every other sales person. He said, what are you planning on using this for? And I said, well, I want to go to the beach with my dog. And when he learned more and more about the way my lifestyle was, he actually steered me away from a Tacoma and into a Highlander. And it was interesting because that's really was a much better fit for me. So I had kind of a different experience. I was actually a buyer going onto the lot and he listened to what I was coming from, where I was coming from and made a different suggestion.
Speaker 1 00:05:23 Right. And so you got advice. I got a sales pitch and people need to understand the difference between the two and what we're trying to be is we're trying to be more like the car salesman you dealt with, correct? Correct.
Speaker 2 00:05:33 Okay. And this happens by the way, like you said, it can happen with cars. It can happen with refrigerators. I went into a technology story yesterday to look for something, you know? And so it doesn't matter. It's not just financial services.
Speaker 1 00:05:45 Yeah, no, it's true. And like you said, we bought all this camera equipment and we ended up going to the place that was well-known excellent customer service. It was not the cheapest place, but, uh, it was the best place. They got us, everything we needed.
Speaker 2 00:05:57 I would just second that is that you kind of, I remember even one time walking in or walking in, I'm calling them up, right. The store is based out of New York and it'd be an H just give him a plug. And I said, this is what I'm looking for. And they said, well, why are you getting that right? And instead go with something else. So I really love when you tell somebody, we begin with the end in mind, they listen to what we're trying to accomplish. And they saying, you know, have you thought about this instead because it really gels with what we're trying to accomplish. No,
Speaker 1 00:06:24 That's exactly right. And so when it comes to retirement planning and financial services and products, it's the exact same thing. Whether you're talking about mutual funds or annuities or stocks or bonds, insurance, all that stuff. But in retirement planning, a lot of people run into a sales pitch when advice is more appropriate because in retirement, you're talking about income planning, health and long-term care taxes, social security, estate planning, any number of things. And every single issue has a different priority for every individual. So it's not as easy as just saying, Hey, this is my favorite product. I'm going to throw it to everybody. I like, right. There's a lot of different things that need to be taken into account. So if you're talking about advice like your car salesman, you got to take into account what the person's goals are before you make a recommendation. And then you've got to provide justification for that. I
Speaker 2 00:07:19 Completely agree. And then, you know, like for example, in the financial planning space, you were talking earlier about annuities when we're dealing with those type of situations that some people who focus more on the investment side, they may also say, well, let's not look at an annuity to solve those things. So hopefully someone comes to the table saying, look, look at all the possible solutions that are on the table to address those myriad topics that are important in financial planning.
Speaker 1 00:07:48 Right? And so we go, if we go to, like, in that newsletter, I wrote about one guy who, uh, had been to, oh, a dozen or more different people. And there are a couple of really popular products. And he said, oh, four of them said this product. And at the time it happened to be the number one selling annuity in the country, but it had nothing to do with, he had more than enough money. He didn't need income. Uh, he just thought he would protect some assets and wanted to look at annuities as an option. But everybody tried to sell them on a guaranteed income contract because that's what they were told to sell. That's what they liked. And they just wouldn't divert from what they normally did and provide true advice for the guy and try to see if they could sort his problems out.
Speaker 2 00:08:33 Didn't he come back to you saying something rather interesting.
Speaker 1 00:08:36 And he said, what was that? It said, no, I'm going to read it. If I get pitched another ten-year annuity with an income rider without being asked what I'm looking for, I am going to scream. So I liked that. He wrote that to me in an email. And it was funny because then I thought, well, that's a great idea for a newsletter. Cause I've always been on the sales versus advice topic. In fact, about a year, a half prior, I had written another newsletter kind of with the same subject matter, but with different examples. And it was just really interesting when I heard that. I said, I've got to take another crack at that. And I think I got a different perspective now, but that was really funny. It perfectly illustrates the point and he was an astute consumer. So he was able to figure that out, like these guys aren't even paying attention to what I'm asking for.
Speaker 2 00:09:17 Yeah. He just kept getting the same pitch over and over again. And he, I think that's where people get really frustrated, right? Is that you want to accomplish something, the person who is your advisor on the other side, really isn't listening to what you're saying. And that's why this gentlemen wanted to scream.
Speaker 1 00:09:32 Yeah. And that's where we say in a lot of cases and again, not just financial products, but you're going to see this in a lot of consumer products where it's, fear-based selling. Okay. Like a lot of moms buy Volvo cars cause they got the best safety rating. They said, well, if I'm going to have precious cargo on board, I want to make sure it's as safe as possible. Okay. In terms of the financial services business, I've always said, and I think a shock, you kind of agree. There are five key areas in retirement where it's generated income limit volatility in a portfolio plan to combat inflation. People want to keep control over their money and legacy for those around you is important to some but not others. But those are the five areas. And I guess what are your comments on that?
Speaker 2 00:10:20 I completely agree. Those are five keys as you've talked about. And in some way, shape or form, most people are interested in one of those five or all of those five.
Speaker 1 00:10:30 Right? And so when the sales pitch comes in, it's something like people are living longer and longer and you want to make sure you never run out of money. That's what an income annuity is meant to solve for. You can get guaranteed income for life, no matter how long you live at works. But what they do is they plant the fear of you living to be 97 years old and say, well, you're going to be out on the street at 97. I mean, even Walmart won't hire you. Right? Right. And then the market crowd, the market's going to crash. You're going to lose everything in the market. Government's going to spend so much money. That dollar is going to be worthless in 20 years. The one with insurance insurance company just wants to steal your money and you're going to run out your family's going to be left with nothing. So all of those things are kind of ways that they get you to be scared. So it's like they plant an idea in you and then magically come up with a product that solves it. Right.
Speaker 2 00:11:21 Right. And I think these things in and of themselves are important to focus on. Like for example, one of the big worries people have when they go into retirement because they're not working anymore. Is am I going to run out of money? Our healthcare expenses going to swamp me is taxation going to erode my tax deferred savings? What if inflation rears its ugly head? All of those things are important, but what we should focus on is let's address those topics and then focus on, are they possible or probable? And if we can at least acknowledge that those are possible, what are the consequences of those to someone's financial plan? And so that's where we can address those and hopefully come up with some solutions in a way that's not based off of, for example, I've heard some people say with disability income, you've actually got to put the person on the gurney. Let's look at level headedly what is the situation? And if something happened, how would that affect the financial plan? Can we deal with the consequences?
Speaker 1 00:12:28 It's kind of like Munchausen by proxy, right? Make the victim sick so that you can be seen as the savior and kind of the idea what the fear-based selling. Is it someone else is planting the fear in your head rather than somebody listening so that you can describe what you're actually concerned about. And it's going to land within the area of those five keys, no matter what you're looking at, but it's not for me to tell someone that they're, I never made it anywhere in this business by telling people what to do, telling what they're doing wrong. It's the ideas about listening so that you can help them sort through what's out there and find solutions.
Speaker 2 00:13:04 One thing to clarify is we are what we call producers in the insurance business. We are similarly involved in helping sell products, but I think we approach things in a way that's not preying on people's fears. And there are a lot of other good advisors, for example, that we work with across the nation who similarly feel this. And by the way, if you're interested to learn more, a good number to call is +1 800-438-5121 that's +1 800-438-5121, or visit annuity straight talk.com, click on the green, schedule a call button, and you can get on our calendar and see what are the consequences of something possibly happening. Instead of being told, you need to get on the gurney and take action right away.
Speaker 1 00:13:54 Exactly. So we can't lay the blame on advisors entirely, right? It's not necessarily an individual's fault for being favoring one product or another. There's another player in this business. And again, it happens in every facet of financial services. And so that leads into another newsletter. You want to talk about that? A little bit of show and we'll get started on that.
Speaker 2 00:14:16 I do. And so the other newsletter that you wrote was back in March of 19, it was called how commissions affect annuity sales. I know, you know, for example, I'll sit down with other advisors, other advisors that have very different business models. In fact, there was one in particular where, when we talk a little bit about insurance, she said something like, oh, well you make commissions off of this. And you look at her business model and it's mainly based on fees. So to me, the way I look at it is whether it's a fee or a commission, as long as you're adding value the commission or the fee isn't bad in and of itself. So I kind of think that when people just paint a broad brush stroke on commissions, there's no reason to think that commissions can't be beneficial if they help someone accomplish their end goal. And the advisor has that client's best interest in mind.
Speaker 1 00:15:07 The big thing between fees and commissions is in the end, each advisor makes roughly the same amount of money. And sometimes it's a lot less by taking a commission. Well, the difference being the commission doesn't come out of the consumer's pocket. It comes out of the insurance company's pocket and they have to keep the money there for a certain period of time to make that money back. But an advisory fee will certainly come out of your investments and it will be something you actually see and touch and feel.
Speaker 2 00:15:32 Yes. And it is possible with some of these annuities right now. If someone keeps them for a period of time, when they can design it in such a way that they retained all of their assets, it grew nicely. And then there's really no fee that was deducted from their money.
Speaker 1 00:15:48 I don't like to say this to people that are initially considering it because disclosure and understanding education has been a huge part of my business, but I don't know anybody that gets two or three years into annuity contract and says, man, this was a raw deal. If you do it right, they look at it and say you were right. There's no fees. And even if they, uh, trusted me enough to take the leap in the beginning, that it all comes full circle when they actually have experienced with the contract and they see, Hey, he was right. I'm not bleeding out of one pocket just to stuff it into another.
Speaker 2 00:16:17 So fees and or commissions, sorry, let's just say the commissions that an agent has paid, especially if they have the client's best interest in mind and they may design a no fee option for that client. There's nothing wrong with that agent being compensated because also in certain circles, if a producer is not incentivized to spend the time and research all of the products and understand the ins and outs, where exactly is the financial incentive to stay up at night and study these things. I mean, annuity straight talk was birth, really because you wanted to explore annuities, you would go to the library, you would study them on your own time. And so unless you have still do right, and unless you are paid a commission for your time and you only get compensation when someone actually implements the idea, there's nothing wrong with that model. Well, I've
Speaker 1 00:17:08 Told people forever that I think 95% of what I do is charity work. So it is, I mean, I read a newsletter and it's kind of a good advertisement. It gets people engaged, but I don't specifically a pay to do it. I don't have a boss, I just do it because I like it. And I want to explain things to people and educate them and offer a no pressure environment to do it. So, and we're doing it here also on this podcast. Yeah. So we just want, you guys have a good time and learn something, but commissions and fees, compensation for financial professionals is a big topic. And it's something that people rightfully should be concerned about. And in the annuity business, there's another player here. So it's not just the, that says, and I've seen guys say, I will not sell anything for less than 8% commission. I've heard people say that. And I thought, well, that's ridiculous because I always thought I don't care what it is. Even if it's 2%, if it's the right thing for someone that sounds like a great deal for me, because 1% of something is bigger than 0% of nothing. And so, oh, show, why don't you describe this other player that a lot of people don't really understand and how this third-party affects the annuity industry in general?
Speaker 2 00:18:20 So the third party that we're discussing here is something called the insurance marketing organization. And in the annuity field, we typically refer to them with the abbreviation I am O and the life insurance space. It's a very similar type of entity, but it's usually called BGA for a broker general agent. So the idea is that there's usually another party, a third party. And the reason why that distribution is very efficient is because it's like the hub and spoke model when different producers want to get contracted with a certain carrier, it's more efficient for that carrier to work with that IMO in the annuity space and say, you handle all of the contracting. You make sure that they are up to date on all of their continuing education. So that way it's just a more efficient way for the insurance company to transact business and keep themselves at arms length away from the producer. Some carriers actually follow a different model where they bypass the IMO altogether. We called that the direct model. That's I believe correct me if I'm wrong, Brian, but that's really the minority. Most of the distribution is handled by that IMO. I know
Speaker 1 00:19:31 Two companies, maybe three that do the agent direct model, and it's simply an outsource sales and marketing arm of the insurance company. But in this case where the agent that wants to get 8% commission, there's also a commission paid to the IMO. So there's a third party that has a vested interest in the product you choose as well. And that's something people need to understand. And that's where we talk about annuity distribution, and why are certain products more popular than others? And it could well be because of the financial motivations of that. Third-party,
Speaker 2 00:20:05 You know, our communities once said, give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it. And I shall move the world. So the IMO gives the insurance company tremendous leverage in the distribution, but to use another analogy, we are all familiar with the wizard of Oz pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. It's when the man behind the curtain starts to pull the strings and the clients start seeing recommendations from someone behind the curtain. That is, I think, where we're saying there's a problem,
Speaker 1 00:20:36 Right? So we're pulling the curtain back and saying, there's a man pulling strings back here. And I think it's just to be an informed consumer. You need to understand what that means. So what, you know, one of the issues with IMOs is that they get incentivized for placing large amounts of business with certain insurance companies. And so there might be a point in time where, well, I guess back it up a little bit, you have certain insurance companies or certain IMOs that only work with a few carriers. And so they might not have access to all the products that are out in the market. And that's one of the reasons why I use the agent direct model and I have right now three different IMOs I'm working with because I want to make sure and verify that I can access all the products I need to, but also one of the biggest reason is to make sure that I can truly give someone the best solution to a problem.
Speaker 1 00:21:32 And I can't, I guess I have that story from when I first started the website, right, where I was dealing with one IMO and I was very new at dealing with them. And I kept getting the same recommendation for everybody I called for. And I thought it was weird. And none of these people ended up taking action. Nobody bought the annuity, even though the payouts interest rates were great back then. And I couldn't figure it out until I paid access to a third-party database where I could just objectively search all the results. And I realized the guy had been lying to me. And the reason was is that the insurance company that he kept proposing actually owned the IMO. So they had kind of an incestuous relationship where the IMO was only wrapping or repping first those products. And so it put me at a disadvantage and I realized, Hey man, I can only trust myself. I've got to really figure out where all this market comes from.
Speaker 2 00:22:26 I think, I think that when we're operating out in the field, we can come across similar experiences. I know on my end, for example, I was once working with a prospective client and he was looking at income annuities and I use a service which shows the reports of all the possible carriers that are out there. And there was one particular carrier that this prospective client liked a lot and probably ended up doing business with them. But the report I gave included all those carriers, even though I didn't have a contract with that one particular carrier and someone from the IMO had told me, well, you know, you should maybe think about filtering the report to exclude a certain carrier. And I thought, no, just the truth is good enough. I'll give you another example. By the way, when I was looking at a fixed annuity with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit, what I started finding was that when I went through the IMO and use the software through them, they would give me a certain results when I changed my subscription so that I paid for the service myself and I took a direct relationship with that website.
Speaker 2 00:23:37 All of a sudden I started seeing other carriers, even the ones that I didn't have any relationships with. And so now whenever I show a report, I'll say, this is to my knowledge, everyone that's out there. Even if I don't have the contract that actually came to hurt me in a sense, if you will, if you think about near-term business, because for example, one client was looking at a certain payout. The highest payout was from a fixed annuity and the carrier had this product with the insurance distribution model. And it had a 10 year surrender charge for some reason, the very same product identical in almost every way, except one was available through the investments distribution side. And the investment side had a seven year surrender. So I told the client, I said, look, you can get the highest payout, but go with the seven year from the investment company and do it away from me because it's in your best interest. So
Speaker 1 00:24:29 Yeah, and I've done the same thing if I can't get the best deal and a guy's got something better, I want to verify that. But if he's got a person who's given him the best option, I'm not going to stand in the way of that. I'm happy to. I mean, we want to build the entire business. If other agents are doing great business, that's one of the reasons why you and I were working together because I felt like it would be better to reach out and include other advisors in local areas that shared the same philosophy. And that's kind of what gave us the idea to do this podcast and really introduce these other, other advisors to my audience.
Speaker 2 00:25:00 Brian, you also have experienced with one aspect of the IMO distribution model, where for example, there's one carrier that has a special relationship with a certain type of product. Could you explain how that dynamic works with which one I'm talking about? The preferred product? Oh
Speaker 1 00:25:18 Right. Yes. And so when like, I am most will do different things to entice agents, to write their contracts through that specific company. And it comes down to saying stuff like, well, we'll give you a 1% more than it's called street compensation, what they offer advisors. But the IMO is often and many cases is gearing toward the products that they make the most money selling. So we're a show gave the example of, Hey, a brokerage product was a better fit for the client. And a lot of cases, insurance company will make that product a little bit better for a short period of time. And that will cause boost sales, if one's better than the other. But when it comes down to compensation, there's a company that at least one of them that I know of that doesn't allow the IMO to share commissions. And so they don't have to share commissions to compete with agents and meaning that they get to keep a bigger piece of the pie.
Speaker 1 00:26:18 And so a lot of those guys, that's why the distribution of that product is so aggressive because all of these companies are saying, Hey, pitch this company first. That's what we want you to sell. This is the best deal. When in fact there's many cases where it's not. And so as a consumer, if you understand the third party incentives, then you can start, begin to see. And I've talked about a lot where a certain product will dominate sales for a long time. We can look a little bit deeper and sometimes we don't even get the full picture, but understanding why those trends change is very important to understanding why you see the products you see. And that's where I've prided myself on being independent for years, because I don't really care about that. I will literally go wherever I have to. And if I can't get it, I'm going to tell someone, Hey, this is the deal. And I'm going to find you somebody that can do it.
Speaker 2 00:27:13 I think, would it be safe to say that when a product is designed with high commissions, that there's always the potential that that compensation comes at the expense of the client. Would that be a fair?
Speaker 1 00:27:30 Yes. I think it can certainly affect the client negatively if they're not shown all the options. And if you think that, oh, just because the distribution is product is so white, it must be really popular in Whitefish, Montana. My hometown Subaru's are really popular. And if I just thought, oh, if everybody else is driving one, I might as well get one too. That's not how I work. I'm an independent thinker myself. And so I try to portray that and I guess use that tendency of mine to help people be more open-minded and really learn what's going on in the market so that they can make more informed decisions.
Speaker 2 00:28:02 I guess that's the benefit of doing business or at least talking, picking up the phone and having a conversation with us at annuity straight talk by giving us a call at (800) 438-5121 that's +1 800-438-5121, or visit the website at www dot annuity, straight talk.com. And when they're there, what did they do, Brian,
Speaker 1 00:28:26 If they want to come to the website, schedule an appointment. Then what we typically do is a 30 minute initial consultation where we just kind of get to know each other and want to hear from you what your concerns are not going to try to plant ideas in your head, just going to educate you and talk to you about how annuities can help and an initial call where we just kind of gather a little information and, and shoot the ball about different things and learn a little bit about each other is the best way to kind of get started and warm it up. And
Speaker 2 00:28:53 I think one other advantage of us doing this podcast is that we have the ability to share all the ideas that we know of, even the ones that we don't have access to. And I know there's other forms of media out there where advisers, or we should say producers like us are sharing ideas. But I think that sometimes when that advertising is directed by the IMO, again, they can restrict the opportunities that the producer can share with the clients. So you have none of that here with this podcast, that annuity straight talk.
Speaker 1 00:29:29 Yes. And that's why, again, why I go to several different sources to confirm what I can get, because we've talked about it before, and you have a recent story about a client who was rolling over some money and wanted to just protect it. Didn't have any income goals or aspirations, simply one of the safe place to put it, where it could grow. And what she had seen was quite different from what you thought was appropriate. Do you want to go into that a little
Speaker 2 00:29:52 Bit? Yeah. It just, you know, here was a client who had money that had come out of a very short three-year annuity. It was a fixed annuity. It had a fixed interest rate and it just was now completely out of surrender. And she asked me, she said, is it still appropriate in your opinion, to keep this in an annuity? And this represented a rather small portion of her savings, most of it was still in the market where she had the good risk tolerance. So I felt like that was fine. And then I suggested, well, you have a three-year annuity. We can look at a three-year annuity to similarly keep the same type of term, or we could go out a little bit longer for a five-year or even there's tenure products. But I showed the range of terms for the surrender schedules. And there was another producer in the field who had shown ideas and there were three ideas, but there were all 10 year products and they were all the names that you would typically see from what I, in my opinion, was the IMO that that person was with. And she ended up picking a direct model approach. It was a different name that she had seen elsewhere. So that was the benefit of saying here's a variety of companies. Here's a variety of different terms and you pick and make the best decision for you,
Speaker 1 00:31:15 Right? And that's just a case of you. Obviously you knew her ahead of time, correct, but taking account for what she's in for. And she's just trying to protect money. You go with a very simple, short term product, and there's nothing wrong with tenure products, but typically those are only recommended for long-term planning objectives, where you have a more specific use for the money, or it's a more specific coordination with your overall assets. But it's quite different from doing technical retirement planning for people. And I run into this. A lot of people want to need to create a plan with all the five keys accounted for. And some people will just come to me and say, Hey, listen, I got everything figured out. I got a pension. I got long-term care. I got all this stuff. I just got, I got some money that's sitting around and it's not making anything in the bank. And do you have any short-term options? Cause I don't want to commit to a long-term. And of course there's something out there for everyone. And it's not, it's an depending on who you are, it's always going to be different.
Speaker 2 00:32:09 And I think what is unique is that among the tool of offerings that we have, we can even do things like blends. You know, where we can say, let's do that, say a latter approach, but it really is depend on what the, ultimately the people who we're working with, what are they trying to accomplish? That's always what we have in mind.
Speaker 1 00:32:27 No, that's, that's true. And the tenure products do have a lot more potential in some cases, but it doesn't mean it's appropriate. So, uh, the big thing to remember is you don't have to put all of your money into one single spot. The financial community has been talking about bond ladders forever. You can certainly do an annuity ladder as well.
Speaker 2 00:32:43 Well, Brian, um, if people are watching this on YouTube, I'm in the dark, but I won't keep you in the dark, but let me ask you if when people come to annuity straight talk, what are some key takeaways based on today's episode, where we've talked about advice, we've talked about distributions mechanisms, what are some key takeaways where they feel a visit to annuity straight talk is well worth their while?
Speaker 1 00:33:05 Well, one theme that's been constant from the beginning. Uh, one thing I would like to tell everyone in my clients could attest to this is that I've been consistent in what I say ever since I started in this business. So I don't have to, I think it's like an old saying, if you tell the truth, you don't have to remember what you said. You just tell the truth and I've been consistent for years. And my goal is not to sell an annuity to every single person that comes to me. My goal is to help people figure it out. And I know a show is exactly the same. So we're going to educate people about the contracts. I've run into a lot of situations where people are sitting with three sales pitch proposals, but have no idea. And even really smart people were never explained how the product works. So we've got tutorials, educational resources, and a lot of cases, we just start with pure education where I can look at your concerns and say, well, an annuity certainly would make a difference or be beneficial. Are there these three reasons why it might be the best option for you, but until you understand that for yourself, don't take my word for it. Right? I will just, I'll give you the tools you can. So you make a decision and that's really a huge difference at Nudie straight talk.
Speaker 2 00:34:17 One of the thing they could do by the way is if they're getting a proposal from elsewhere, they could ask a couple of questions and one of them might be, did you prepare this case, design yourself? Did you have maybe somebody else helping? I thought another question might be, did you list all the available alternatives? Are you aware of something like we talked about the direct model? Is there something that I should see before I make this decision? So I think those are a couple of things. Even if you're not working with us, you could ask somebody else in the business,
Speaker 1 00:34:52 IMO, we've got financial experts that can do case design. So I hand them your numbers and they're going to design the case for you. And then I'm responsible for selling it. That's a non-starter with me because we do our own stuff and I've got specific ideas. And one of them is, again, I always say, if you're going to buy an annuity, use it in the way where you can get the most in return for it. And a lot of times it takes a creative strategy to do that. So one thing annuity straight talk has been good at over the years and outside I'll take credit for it. I'm a very restless thinker and I continue to I'm an innovator. So I've, I've looked at a lot of different ways of income planning. One of those things is the flex strategy that I think is show Glikes and we're going to refine the calculations so that we can include more data, but it's been one of those things that's just really, uh, opened people's eyes to the possibilities of doing it a different way.
Speaker 1 00:35:43 And again, it's all in the matter of research that we do for the benefit of the consumer. Simply because if you buy a seven or a five or a seven or a 10 year contract, for me, we're going to have to work together on that contract for the next five, seven or 10 years. So it has to be a basis of there has to be a good foundation of trust, mutual understanding and education. We've got to be on the same page. And so I'm willing to take more time to do it that way. And if anybody else is interested in doing that way, that's where we're going to be a huge benefit to many consumers.
Speaker 2 00:36:18 I know I am are different. So if I share some of the experiences I have had, it doesn't mean it's a broad brush stroke, but I remember one saying, when we talk about anniversaries of products and we do client reviews, why would you do a client review? You know, because this is a long-term relationship. And we want to make sure that the products fit rather than just taking what's on the shelf. So that's what I like about what we're doing here. We do our own work. I love coming to you, Brian and bouncing ideas off of you. And so we can collaborate and share best practices, but we do our own work and we share all the ideas, even products that we don't have access to. You can see all of what we have at our disposal. Sure.
Speaker 1 00:36:58 And I think it's interesting where we just, we've always been kind of willing to do what's best for the client. And that's kind of the point of the whole thing is to make sure that we build our reputations by the people we serve and how well we serve them. And, uh, that's a real important thing in this business.
Speaker 2 00:37:14 I think that's it for me, Brian, on this, I think we've covered this topic extensively. Yeah. Yes,
Speaker 1 00:37:19 No, I think that's great. And like I said, we appreciate you, uh, everybody joining us and we're going to make this as good as possible. I've heard from some clients that really liked the podcast. Some people that think it's a great idea, but yeah, I don't really listen to podcasts. So I'll just read. It's just another medium to communicate with people. If you like the podcast, if that's your thing, go ahead and subscribe so that you get notifications every time a new one's released coming soon to the website will be a podcast page where you can look them all up. If you don't have one of the other forums or a podcast app that you like to use available on YouTube as well. If you want to see a see as chat back and forth. And I, while we had a shock for most of the time
Speaker 2 00:37:54 We had, but we'll figure out what the marvels of technology,
Speaker 1 00:37:58 Right. He's dark, but we're new at this. We're not audio video experts. And fortunately my sister and her husband were photography majors in college. And so they're really good at this stuff. So I had, I had a bit of an advantage by learning how to use my new equipment. And uh, so don't, yeah, don't look on a show poorly, but he's a wonderful guy and he means well, so, but again, just hit a Nudie straight talk.com on the top. There's a button that says annuities. It opens a drop down menu. You can go check out the newsletter with a search bar. You can search for any topic you want. If you do not see a topic, please call me, email me a proposal, say, Hey, I've got this question and it's in all likelihood, that's going to be the topic of a newsletter, but there's a green schedule call button on the top of every page. And you can always call (800) 438-5121 one. Thank you guys for joining us. And we look forward to presenting a new topic. On the next episode,
Speaker 0 00:39:03 You've been listening to annuity straight time. The preceding information is for informational and educational purposes only and does not represent tax legal or investment advice. The views expressed by guests in this program are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or no information presented today should be acted upon without meeting with a licensed position. It is important that you read all insurance contract disclosures carefully before making a purchase decision guarantees of base on the financial strength and claims paying ability of the insurance company
Speaker 3 00:40:00 Show guest Raji is an investment advisor, representative of insight, folios and sec registered investment advisor. The firm only transacts business in states where it is notice filed or is excluded or exempted from notice filing requirements. Any fee-based financial planning and investment advisory services are offered through his association with insight folios top wedding LLC is not a registered investment advisor and is not another name under which insight folios provide services. Insurance products and services only are offered through top planning, LLC insight, folios Inc, and top blending LLC are not affiliated companies.
